When the Cubs picked up Aroldis Chapman just before the MLB trade deadline in late July, Caitlin Swieca was conflicted.
Chapman, who was accused of a domestic violence incident and served a 30-game suspension from MLB for the offense, was a blemish on an otherwise happy-go-lucky and lovable Cubs squad. His 100-plus mph fastball was overshadowed by the details of the assault of his 22-year-old girlfriend, though police ultimately decided not to press charges.
So a day after Chapman's signing, Swieca took a stand on Twitter. She announced she would donate $10 to the Domestic Violence Legal Clinic in Chicago for every save Chapman earned for the Cubs.
So I've decided I'm going to donate $10 to a Chicago domestic violence org every time Chapman gets a save.
— Caitlin Swieca (@CaitlinSwieca) July 28, 2016
Fast-forward four months. The Cubs are World Series champions. More than 430 others have donated to her campaign with DVLC. And Chapman, serendipitously enough, blew a save in Game 7 and wasn't on the mound when Chicago broke the curse.
Swieca cried tears of joy. But after Chapman gave up a game-tying two-run home run to Cleveland center fielder Rajai Davis in the eighth inning, she had something much different on her mind.
"I went from thinking 'We all compromised what we believed in to root for this guy, and he's gonna blow it,' to celebrating a World Series title with someone else on the mound," Swieca said Thursday. "Couldn't have scripted it better."
The DVLC fundraising started with a goal of $11,000, which is a thousandth of Chapman's $11 million dollar salary. The group hit that goal during the regular season, but during the postseason, Twitter sharing of the campaign's page rose dramatically, Swieca said. The goal got pushed up again, and then again.
By Wednesday night, more than $27,000 had been raised. Thursday morning, #Pitchin4DV, as it's called, had passed $31,000. One man, Dave Ahlman, put up $253, a combination of how many games Chapman played, how many innings he pitched, his strikeouts, his wins and his saves. He doubled his donations for the NLDS and NLCS games, and the World Series was worth three times as much.
"In exchange for renting Aroldis Chapman for a year," he posted on Twitter. "Happy to help."
@pitchin4dv @MetaCookbook @JulieDiCaro @SarahSpain In exchange for renting Aroldis Chapman this year - glad to help #pitchin4DV pic.twitter.com/txbEp0ok3E
— Dave Ahlman (@daveahlman) November 3, 2016
As for the result? It couldn't have been sweeter -- for the Cubs faithful, DVLC and, of course, Swieca. The fundraising initiative has been therapeutic for her and others, and it's made coming to terms with Chicago's deal for the closer a little easier. A World Series win helps, too.
"It feels just as good as I imagined [it] my whole life," Swieca said.
Sean Morrison is a digital media associate for ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @sean_morrison